Staff at the National Seal Sanctuary are looking forward to a few quiet weeks as the last of the winter pups head out to the wild.

Pups Boss and Eve are the last and have been at the Sanctuary since December 2006, after being found malnourished and injured on the beach. Now with only a few more kilos to put on, the Sanctuary staff will be able to release these two next week.

"This rescue season has been a long one for both myself and the rest of the team," said Animal Care Team Supervisor Tamara Cooper. "The rescue season started very early at the beginning of September 2006 with Roo, and then we didn´t have another pup arrive until the beginning of October."

"From then on we were receiving calls every day and the final total was 43 pups."

Boss and Eve´s rehabilitation has been slightly longer then usual, at just over 7 months.

Boss had a few problems learning how to catch his own fish, but will now happily fight the adults in the pool for more than his share. Eve was a "white coat" and about 7 days old when she was rescued by the Sanctuary staff. She was suffering from seal pox, which slowed her recovery, but this has now cleared up and she is ready to go back.

"Once these two pups have been returned to the wild it will be time to start getting the hospital ready for the new Grey seal birthing season which begins in five weeks time," added Tamara.

Much of the cost of looking after the annual intake of pups, including feed and veterinary bills, is funded by adoptions and donations.

"We´d like to say a big thank you to everyone who helped in this way over the past year, and obviously we hope we'll enjoy similar support in the months ahead," said Tamara.

For more details, please contact Tamara Cooper or Rachael Vine on 01326 221361.